Ag Food and Resource Economics Summer Experiences

Week 7 Saginaw Bay Farms

This week was very short. I got time off from the holiday weekend and didn’t come back to work until Wednesday. It was very run-of-the-mill and I did not do anything too exciting. I mostly did stand counts, and checked all of the dry bean fields. The dry beans have been our main concern because they were the most damaged. I assessed all of the fields, and except for one all are making a full recovery.

Right now I am just excited about getting ready for pickles next week. I have never worked with pickles before and am very anxious and nervous about it because I do not know what to expect. I was given a quick five minute overview of what I would be doing by the owner of the farm, Norm Corrion.

I feel a bit lost this past week because my supervisor, Becky Warner, was gone this week and won’t be back until Monday. I had quite a few questions especially with the deer beet fields I scouted and knew Norm couldn’t answer my questions immediately. So I had to enlist the help of Frank, from Frank’s Crop Watch to identify weeds I didn’t know the names to so I could finish my reports accurately.

I am now confident when I travel. I used to feel lost when I was given a field number and told to go to it. Now I can picture where it is, and with the help of FarmLogic I can use GPS to find it if it’s up north. The summer July heat has been a challenge for me. I am used to working outside but am dying of the heat. I learned my lesson the hard way today when I didn’t pack enough water for the journey. Being all alone in the fields without adequate water is scary. I will definitely pack heavier these next couple of months.